Art and method of making shoes



March 7, 1933. B. w. FREEMAN ART AND METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Oct. 5, 1931 lllll llllll.

llwnllllllllln. \\l lllllllllllll lll A lll llllllll.

45 ing material.

Patented Mar. 7, 1933 i UNITED STATES PATENT ce BENJAMIN W; FREEMAN, F CININATI, OHIIIO` .ART AND' METHODVOF MAKING ASHOES lApplication iled QctoberV 5, 1931. Serial No. 567,050. v

lockingand cooperating manner, to the end,

thatthe sole is securely held against separalo tion from the heel.

Another, and importantobject of the in vention is to provide a processwhich will eliminate the costly hand labor required in the heel seating or rand ,shaping operation l" `preparatory to thel attachment of the` heel, which heretofore hasL usually required hand labor4 of a highly skilled operator. In a prior Patent,No. 1,788,234, of January 6th, o 1931, there is disclosed a method of attaching soles and heels to a shoe with this purpose in view, and the present invention contemplates improvementsinthe method and resultant articles disclosedtherein. A Heels of the style referred to are usually covered with ancrnamental veneer conformingto the upper of the shoe, and consequently it is impractical to burnish, trim or otherthe outsole beneath the heel in such a manner.

.as tobe visible between the heel and upper, when the shoe is finished and heretofore a short'solewhich terminates immediate adjacent the heel breast, has generallybeen used, or a long sole attached to the upper and trimmed away at the heel seat end, thus wast- Aside from thel waste and the necessity of utilizing skilled labor to shape the rand, or iitthe heel seat to the heel, it is diihcult, when a. short sole is so used, to prevent separation of the sole and heel, and one o of the objects of this invention is to provide such an extension of the sole beneath the heel as to provide an interlock securing the sole in position Withoutrhowever, exposing the sole extension to view. v A further object is to securethe sole` and utilize same as a part of the heel fitting in the manner described to effect theI saving in material and other advantages of a short outsole, whilev at.. the same time providing a practical principle ofshoe manufacture in which the disadvantages of a short outsole lo are overcome. Y Y Y The method described f ,contemplates adaptation to various styles of heels such as,

' Cuban or military, Louis, etc., with but slight 65 variation in detail. y Y Y A To the `attainment, of the foregoing and l other objects whichwill appear as the description proceeds, references may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of a finished heel seat; 7.0 Fig. 2 is a section illustrating one lstep in the method of fitting the heel seat; Fig. 3 is asimlar view showing a subsequent step;

of completingthe seat; andy Fig. 5 is a section showing application of the heel to theseatpwith one style of heel. The method; herein is described particularly with reference to a military or Cuban *so heel, it being understood ofcourse that the method is applicable to any type 4of. heel. Briefly stated, the method comprises splitting the sole .across the back, makingup the shoe in a conventional manner with the '85 sole attached and ready for the heel seat jittin-g operation, removing the extending portion of the, sole beneath the flap produced by `splitting so that an` abutment will lbe left on the sole, vand against which the breast of the heel may be placed iiush, trimming the flap lso that the side vportions or edges thereof will come Hush or within the eXtent of the heel breast, and then attaching the heel to the shoe with the flap therebeneath. 95 Referring more specically to the drawing,

lwherein like referencev numerals designate Fig. t is a'perspective illustrating the step ..775 i is indicated at 16, said heel being conca-ved as indicated at 18 to t the heel seat 20.

In carrying out the herein described method the sole 10 is split to form two flaps 22 and 24. The iiap 24 is cut away sufficiently to leave a shoulder or abutment 24a and the flap 22 is trimmed about its edges a sufficient extent to permit4 a fitting thereof within the concavity 18 and with no edge portion thereof exposed when the heel isA tted. n

The flap 22 may be trimmed to fit the concaved or shaped portion of' the heel seat either before or after the sole is attached, vas there is no close iitting to this operation.

The flap 22 is then laid into the heel seat and the heel fitted thereover with the breast 26 engaging the abutment formed by 24a and the b-entfover portion of flap or extension 22. ItA will be observed that when the heel is fitted tothe seat that the flap or extension 22 of thesole forms a firm interlock with the heel land shoe `at the heel breast joint. This interlock may be enhanced by theV use of a tack orheel nail 28 driven `from within the shoe through the tongue or iiap 22 into the heel. Such nails may be inserted in other directions than as 1 indicated lor any other suitable means of fastening may be used.

The extension 22, in fact the original sole prior to the formation of the flaps 22 and '24, need-not extend beyond the heel breast joint 'any further than is necessary to produce the interlocking effect, and does not have to be the fullor exact outline as shown in Fig. 1. l Y Y A knife of the proper design readily cuts the heel seat end ofthe sole to the proper 40' shape. This sole cutting operation can be accomplished yeither afterthe sole has been .marked or by means of adjustable gauges covering the different sizes `and widths, and locating the kknife with relation to the heel r 'seat end of the sole so as to cut it in the proper place; Y

The exact order or sequence of operations lupon the sole, whereby the sole is* split,

trimmed and shaped to provide the'abutment 24a, attached to the upper of the shoe and 'properly aligned with the heel may be varied and I do not intend to be limited to any particular order, as obviously certain of the steps may be performed either before or after the sole is attached to the shoe. But as indicated `above the preferred method contemplates first splitting the sole to form the iiaps,

then making up the shoe in the conventional manner with the sole attached and ready for the heel seat fitting operation, removing the extending portion of the sole beneath the flap on the outer yside and trimming such outer flap, and then attaching the heel tothe shoe with the flap therebeneath and in the relation shown in'Fig. 5 to the abutment 24a.

As stated, the method described is a very simple Way of attaching heels and fitting the seats and as the extension or flap does not have to extend very far under the heel, short soles can be utilized if the manufacturer cares to use them, and the manufacturer can use his own judgment as tohow much he wishes to save in sol-e leather and how far he desires the extension 22 on the sole to extend back under the heel.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is

1. The method of fitting heel seats of shoes which comprises splitting the sole across the back to form -a pair of flaps, applying the sole to a shoe, removing that portion of the iiap adjacent the shoe, back of the breast line, trimming the edge of the otherilap, and vapplying a' heel to the shoe with the trimmed iiap therebeneath and the edge of the rst mentioned Hap flush with the heel breast.

2. The method of fitting heel seats of shoes which comprises operating upon the sole at the heel end thereof to form a shoulder thereacross and an extension of the sole beyond said shoulder and to attach the sole to the shoe with the extended portion outward, and applying a. heel to the shoe with said extended portion therebeneath and 'with the heel.

tol a shoe and to shape said extension to provide a lesser thickness throughout than the remainder oflsaid sole, and to leave a shoulder thereacross, and applying a heel to the shoe` with the heel breast adjacent the normal end of the sole, in abutting relation to said shoulder and with said extension interlocked'between the shoulder and the heel.

4. The method of making shoes which comprises operatingupon the heel end of a sole to provide an abutment coextensive with the breast line and a flap extending therebeyond, and to attach the sole to an upper with the abutment against the bottom of the upper,

and applying a heel to the upper with said Vflap in interlocking engagement between the jacent the shoe bottom and applying a heel;44 Vto the shoe with the Hap therebeneath and in the plane of said abutment, and with said abutment in abutting relation to the heel breast.

` 6. The steps in the making of shoes with heelshaving concave baseswhichcomprises making a shoe sole with a portion of the sole extending no further under the attaching surface of a heel than'may be required to form an inter-engagement between the sole and the heel, attaching the sole to the shoe bottom, shaping such extending portion of the sole to provide a filler for the concavity of the heel, of lesser thickness than the sole proper andto provide a shoulder across the sole, bending the filler across said shoulder, and applying the heel to the shoe bottom, in abutting relation to the filler at theV point where it engages the shoulder, with the extension between the upper surface of the concavity of the heel and the shoe bottom.

7 The steps in the making of shoes with heels having concave bases which comprises making a shoe sole with one portion of the sole extending to the heel breast portion only, and another portion of thevsole extending no further under the attaching surface of a heel than may be required to form an interengagement between the sole and the heel, attaching the sole to the shoe bottom shaping such extending portion of the sole to provide a filler for the concavity of the heel, of lesser thickness than the sole proper and to provide a shoulder across the sole, bending the filler across said shoulder, and applying the heel to the shoe bottom in abutting relation to the filler with the heel breast flush with said first portion and with the eX- tension between the upper surface of the concavity of the heel and the shoe bottom. 35 8. A shoe comprising an upper, an outsole and a heel, said sole being formed with an abutment thereacross and substantially at the breast line and a iap extending over and beyond said abutment, said heel being attached to the upper with said flap interlocked therebetween, and located with the heel breast thereof in abutting relation to said abutment.

9. A shoe comprising an upper, an outsole and a heel, said sole being formed with an abutment thereacross and substantially at the breast line, and a flap extending over and beyond said abutment, said heel being provided with a concave face and attached to the upper with said iap interlocked therebetween, and located with the heel breast theree of substantially flush with said abutment, said flap being shaped to substantially lill the concavity of the heel.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

BENJAMIN W. FREEMAN. 

